It is known in the art to provide a fluid reservoir in an upper portion of a duplicating machine which transmits moisture to an inked paper drive roller via an intermediate wick coupled between the reservoir and the roller. This moisture helps prevent ink accumulation on the roller which buildup can produce black streaking on the paper driven by the roller. This problem is most troublesome when the drive roller contacts paper having bleed edge inked printing thereon so that the roller is more or less continuously in contact with inked areas. An annoying problem associated with prior art wick systems such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,700,933 to T. C. White, is that water drips from the wick into the machine. Another problem is that such wicks may dry out over long periods such as extended weekends.